On a beautiful afternoon, Brandon rode his bicycle to a farm that sold baskets of watermelons for $8.53 each and baskets of apples for $6.91 each. Brandon decided to buy a basket of watermelons and a basket of apples because those were his favorite kinds of fruit. How much did Brandon need to pay for his produce?
Answer: To find the total amount Brandon needs to pay, we need to add the price of the watermelons and the price of the apples. Price of watermelons + price of apples = total price. ${8}$ ${5}$ ${3}$ ${6}$ ${9}$ ${1}$ ${+\vphantom{0}}$ ${4}$ ${4}$ ${5}$ ${1}$ Brandon needs to pay $15.44.